DA II Problems
by rptifearogue
Summary: After a unfortunate event, Fenris acquires the aid from unwanted help.


_Part I: Midnight_

With nothing but the moon shinning on them from the night sky Tifea and Fenris slept in their tent. The two have been traveling, bound for Ferelden since their encounter with bounty hunters, hoping that Neria and maybe others will help them achieve their goal.

_Tifea…_

Upon hearing the sound in her mind Tifea only scrunches more into her blankets only wanting not to wake.

…_Come…Please…_

More noise. Tifea then covers her head with the blanket.

_Ahhhh… Go away…_

_Tifea… Please…_

Tifea, now awake, she covers her ears hoping that the sound was coming from outside.

_Gerr…_

_Wake up!... Now!_

Tifea finally slowly opens her eyes. She then turns her body to look to Fenris, who is still asleep.

"Ug… why didn't she wake you…" whispered Tifea.

Tifea then slowly, and quietly enough as to not wake Fenris, left the tent.

_Forward…_

"Fine… so late at night… who is this?"

No answer.

Tifea followed the directions of the voice until she came to a light, and at that moment she knew who it was.

Tifea ran to see her mystery speaker, which she knew was Julia Nollen. Once she arrived Julia got up from the ground and removed her hood in order to greet Tifea.

"Welcome Tifea."

"Sorry I took so long, it's…"

"I know it's late," Julia looked worried, as if she'd seen something horrific. "But I needed to warn the both of you."

"Warn us about what? And why didn't you wake Fenris, I thought he'd be easier for you to call upon," asked Tifea, jokingly.

"Because," Julia stared at Tifea gravely, "I needed to tell this to you not him."

"Ok, ok… what is this about?"

"It is about this man. A man I saw in Fenris's past," Julia closed her eyes so that she could remember the man's name. "Danarius."

Tifea, no longer tired, glared at Julia with anger.

"Danarius is dead Julia."

Julia looked to Tifea as if she was about to cry.

"No he is not Tfea I-"

"Yes he is! I stabbed him in the heart when we were in Kirkwall. He fell to the ground and died!"

Tifea looked as if she was ready to attack Julia. Julia then lifted her hands in reassurance.

"Please Tifea believe me, I know it may sound wrong but I encountered him recently."

"No it must have been someone else Julia. I killed Danarius with my own hands! Fenris saw it, I saw it, the innkeeper saw it. He's DEAD!"

Julia then ran up to Tifea and touched both of her temples with her hands. Instantly Tifea sees the Hangedman, empty, with only a body on the ground. A man comes in then leaves; it seems that everything is being fast forwarded. Seconds later to her, but maybe hours in the time period of the vision, the inn is still empty. Four men in robes come into the Hangedman and take the body of the man on the floor. The vision then blurs and comes to an end.

"What did you just do?"

Julia slowly removes her hands from Tifea's head and takes a step back.

"I brought back one of your memories. It was from a dream."

"Please, Julia you have to be lying. Any dream that I have I remember, especially if they're caused by my tattoos."

"Think hard then!"

"I didn't have that dream!"

"Yes you did! Think back! Before you killed the Knight-Commander."

"But… that would make it a dream of the past. I don't-"

"Those dreams are harder to recall because the mind believes that it had already occurred so it doesn't stand out as something that might make a change in the future."

Tifea stared at Julia, frightened, what if that dream was real? What if the man on the floor was Danarius?

_But he's been dead for too long… he… can't be…_

"Tifea I came here to warn you of his return, he is-"

Tifea shook her head.

"Warn us? Ha! You can help us!" Tifea smiled, but it was only to keep herself from feeling the fear. "If you help us get rid of him, if he's really back, he'll be gone forever."

Julia turned around and bowed her head; she then said something in elven that Tifea couldn't make out at all.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't help you."

"What? Why? you're-"

"I do not think Fenris would want me to."

The rogue looked to Julia as if she was crazy.

_Why would she think that?_

"Fenris _ADORES_ you! Almost as much as I do. Why wouldn't he want your help to demolish someone that he _hates."_ Questioned Tifea, with emphasis on the 'hate'.

Julia, turned around and faced Tifea with sorrow in her eyes.

"Because, Tifea he… he see me as something else," she looked to the ground hoping to find the words she needed. "Something that he feels he never had because he cannot remember it."

"What?"

"If I help the two of you then leave again, it might hurt him more than you would imagine."

Putting her hand to her chin and looking towards the sky for answers, Tifea thought vigorously over what Julia said, trying to figure out what she meant. Minutes passed, and then it hit her. She put her hands down and glanced back at Julia. She then tilted her head and examined Julia with concern in her eyes.

"Does he… really see you as something like that?"

"You may ask him if you wish, whether he will tell you the truth or not is his decision. But I need you to watch out for this man…" Julia gazed at the ground to her right. As she did, Tifea noticed something odd about her.

"Where's Luna and Airamyth?"

"They are resting in the Elemental Olane… Danarius… injured them greatly… AUGH! I am such an 1aidor! I should not have…" Julia grabs her head with her hands in anger.

"Wait, you said you saw him. What happened?"

"I am sorry Tifea… " Julia looked up to Tifea, hands still clutching her head in irritation. "I have never been to Tevinter, and I have never met a mage from there."

_Past_

'_I was traveling to the north when I encountered him.'_

"Intriguing a lone traveler, all the way out here."

Julia took a step back.

"Stay away from me."

Danarius only laughs at her request.

"And an elf at that," he then makes a hand motion. His men then make a circle around the hooded figure, with only one walking up to her. "Remove you hood elf."

Julia takes another slight step back.

"I said stay away from me!"

"How dare you disobey me, elf!" Danarius pointed at her then ordered the man that was moving closer to her. "Remove her hood, NOW!"

The man charged at Julia. The elf then quickly reached into her embroidered bag, inside her cloak, and took out two objects. The skinny one went into her right hand and the thicker one went into her left. Once she clutched them tightly a mace and shield appeared in her grasp, along with her gloves and armor covering her body.

_Smash!_

The man was knocked out by her blow to his head and fell to the ground.

"Incredible," scoffed Danarius, "a female elf that can wield a shield and weapon."

"Let me leave, now!"

_Luna, Airamyth I need you please._

"What makes you think that I'll listen to such an insubordinate creature?" He then looked to his men, "kill her!"

With only two steps into their charge a hurricane appeared around the elf.

"What? What is this."

"My elementals, help me bring vengeance upon these people!" Julia lifted her mace and shield to the sky. "Storm of Vengeance!"

The hurricane went away, and on each side of the hooded elf were Luna and Airamyth.

Danarius looked around him in fear, all of his men were knocked to the ground by this elf's magic, but where was her magic now? The elf supposedly called upon a storm of vengeance on him, and yet he saw nothing. The elf just stood there with a mace and shield next to these two demons that he has never seen before.

"Ha," laughed Danarius, as he saw the elf's fault. "You senseless creature, you cannot cast spells with such equipment." He then glanced at his men with hilarity in his speech. "What do you see men? Any aura? Any destruction?"

As his men slowly got to their feet each of them said there was no danger to be seen, the elf was bluffing.

"You are a warrior and nothing more elf!"

One of his men looked to Julia and laughed at her ignorance.

"Yeah elf there's nothing-" suddenly the man felt a burn on his shoulder, then his arms, then his head. "Hey what is… AUGH! It burns."

Upon hearing this Danarius puts a bubble around himself just to be safe then looks to his men, each of them were jumping around in pain and fear.

"Sir it burns!"

"Everywhere burns!"

"It's-AUGH!" A dash of light from the sky hits one of Danarius's men leaving only a burnt body to fall to the ground.

"Sir the rain it burns! AUGH!"

One by one each of his men fall prey to the lightning or acid rain that fell from the sky. Danarius then glares at the elf enraged by what she's done.

"You elf! You will pay for this."

"Prepare yourself my lady!"

"Stay back fiend!"

Danarius then animated the bodies of each of his men that died to the storm, while keeping up his bubble. The bodies head for Julia but with such little energy going into each animation; it only takes one of the elf's swings to destroy them.

'_I thought I was going to be alright… I did not… I did not think this man could truly be as big as a threat as Fenris saw him to be… but I was horribly wrong.'_

One by one Julia, Airamyth and Luna took down the animated dead, but unknown by them, Danarius was readying a spell.

'_The spells is what causes all the elves in this land to live the way they do.'_

"Die you wretch! Fire Ball."

"Julia look out!"

"You will not take her power!"

'_At first I did not know why they did this for me, I felt horrible, I should have known better.'_

The two elementals raced from either side of Julia to be in front of the blast, and once they were…

"Luna Airamyth!" cried Julia as she saw her two closest companions fall. She then looks to Danarius with indignation, "you monster!"

"Die!"

"Not until you die FIRST!" Julia raised her hands to the skies and yelled for her last spell. "HARM!"

Before Danarius to utter the words of another spell and cylinder of red light came down from the heavens and stuck him.

"AUUGGHH!"

Julia looked down to elements. "Don't worry I'll get you out of here." She cast a spell to turn them both into their basic forms then put them into two jars of which she returned to her bag. She then ran from the area.

_Present_

"I did not understand why they ran in front of me. Why they had to defend me from that spell. I went to the elemental plan and gave them to their leader for healing, but before they left me. They told me why." Tears started to fall from Julia's eyes. "I could have resisted the spell; they could have been killed for good. But they told me… that if that spell would have hit me, whether I resisted it or not, my immortality would have been … erased."

"That," Tifea was surprised by this; she didn't even think such a thing was possible. "That, that doesn't make sense… how could-"

"It was because of this land's new magic! Their Blood Magic!"

"But it was a normal Fire Ball… wasn't it?"

"No… the mage has used blood magic before, so all of his spells are tainted with it." Julia covered her face in hopes that her tears would stop, then spoke quickly. "The taint in blood magic, if it hits an elf, removes the most potent part of an elf's blood, which is the element in us that makes us immortal… When my elementals told me of this, I felt… I felt like I did not know what I was doing." Julia then sat back on the ground now with both of her hands on her face. Tifea knelt down to Julia, only wanting to comfort her in some way.

"But you didn't know, you-"

"Whether I knew or not was not the point, it was that I did not take caution. I should have dodged the attack. If I had… maybe…"

Tifea embraced Julia.

"They aren't dead Julia they'll-"

"I know, I just… never mind…I am here so that you two will stay clear of that monster."

Tifea was now staring at the ground then glanced at Julia.

"We will Julia…"

"And do not tell Fenris that I told you of this."

"I won't, thank you Julia, I wish the best for Luna and Airamyth."

Julia then smiled to Tifea, and hugged her.

"Thank you."

Julia was back at the camp, and since she was too sleepy to go back inside the tent to rest, she just took out her pillow and fell asleep on it, outside the tent. Sadly only an hour passed until the sun rose, and the bright light kept Tifea from her sleep.

"Gerrr… go way." Tifea moves her face to one half of the pillow then covers her face with the other half.

"The sun isn't going anywhere Tifea."

"Ug."

"What are you doing out here anyway."

_Tick tick tick…_

"Sleep walking," answered Tifea under her pillow.

"Of course, we need to pack up everything and get moving now, you know that."

"mmmm…."

Unable to fight the sunlight Tifea helps Fenris pack up the campsite. But as she was doing so she started to think about what Julia told her last night.

"Hey Fenris, remember Julia?"

"How could I forget."

Tifea sits on the ground as she watches Fenris pack up the tent.

"Well you know how I see her as my, well, favorite hero, what do you see her as."

Fenris paused then looked at Tifea.

"What do you mean?"

"Well if she could be something or someone that you could imagine up to be anything… what would you make her?"

Fenris grimaced at Tifea's question and continued to pack away the tent.

"She is a strong and intelligent woman to me, nothing more."

"Really?"

"_Yes really!" _Exclaimed Fenris as he put the tent into the back pack, "now let's move, we can't stay here forever."

Tifea, wasn't exactly surprised by his reaction but was somewhat curious as to why he acted the way he did.

"Alright, let's go."

The two then left the campsite, heading east along the coast of the Free Marches.

"So where to now Anders? I can't tell…"

"Here…" Anders was pointing at the coastal city of Ostwick, the one of which could take them to port on Ferelden. "Once we get here we can get on a boat to Ferelden then all we have to do is follow the map to Denerim."

"Oookay but where are we right now on the map."

"Ahhh… Somewhere over here I believe," Anders took the map from his companion in order to get a better look at it. "Yes we're right here Jade, we shouldn't be too far now."

"Good at least you know where we're going."

As the two also continued their walk east, Jade suddenly feels an energy drawing her towards the forest. She then stops and looks into the trees hoping to see what this force was. Unlike Jade, Anders continued his walk, then notices her absence from his side.

"Jade, come on we need to keep moving."

"One second." She squints her eyes in an attempt to see what force was pulling at her. Unable to see, Jade climbs up the hill into the forest to satisfy her curiosity.

"Jade?!"

"Don't worry I'll just be a moment."

"Well hurry please, we need to get as far as we can each day."

"I know I know."

As Jade walks deeper into the forest she feels the energy grow stronger.

_What could it be?_

Soon her walk becomes a run, as she goes deeper into the forest, then suddenly she comes across a hooded figure that was radiating light.

"What?..."

"Listen to me," spoke the figure, "a friend of mine is in danger or is going to be in danger."

"So what do you want me to do?" For some reason the aura coming from the creature didn't seem evil to Jade, thus once she heard the words 'in danger' she knew she had to help.

"There is an elf that has many white tattoos, if you come across him and he is not being followed by a female human, I need you to offer to help him."

"But what if he declines?"

"Trick him, convince him, tell him the name of his companion, Tifea, is in danger and you want to help him. Do anything just as long as in the end he accepts your help."

"Why can't I just tell him that you sent me?"

"Because…" The hooded figure looked down, "because it would create a greater conflict. If it is necessary though, to get him to accept your aid, you may use my name but only use it if it is truly necessary."

"Alright… so what is your name?"

"Julia."

*Yawn*

"Are you really that tired?"

"No… I'm just trying to get up."

"What did you do last night? Talk in your sleep again?"

Tifea glared at the back of Fenris with her hands clutched into fists at her sides.

"I do not talk in my sleep."

"Yes, you do, you know that's why you can't fall asleep."

"I do not talk in my sleep Fenris I-"

"Shush!"

Tifea blinked then stopped… trying to listen for what Fenris heard, he never said 'shush' to her unless he heard something important.

"I don't-"

"SHUSH!"

Fenris walked closer to Tifea and withdrew his weapon. Upon seeing this Tifea did the same and closed her eyes so she could concentrate on the sounds around her.

_-fwip—_

"Duck!"

Tifea pulled Fenris's arm as she bent down to the ground. In front of them, pinned to a tree, was a dart, it left a black circle on the tree.

"Poison darts."

"I'll get him, Fenris get the ones in the front of us."

And the two split. Fenris charged and phased through two of the people in front of them while Tifea got the dart shooter in the back. But those three weren't the only ones following them. Both Tifea and Fenris were so caught up in the fact that they were killing off their stalkers that they didn't notice their distance away from each other. Tifea kept getting further and further away from Fenris, killing off each of her enemies until.

_-fwip—_

"AH!..."*grunt* Tifea turned to see her shooter, but everything started to get fuzzy. She tried to raise her weapons to defend herself , but she couldn't. Instead she dropped them and fell to the ground.

"Fenris…"

In the meantime, Fenris finally killed off all of his foes and headed back in Tifea's direction to help her out, but when he returned she was not to be found.

"Tifea?!"

"Tifea is gone."

The elf immediately turned towards the voice of the speaker and charged at him, ending with the person being chocked by his claws.

"Where is she!"

*cough* "Let me go and I'll." *Cough* *Gasp* "I'll tell you—"

"How about you tell me now and I _might_ let you live!"

*Cough* "I have a message for you." *Gasp* "From Danarius- AH!"

Fenris's grasp just grew tighter.

"You lie! Danarius is dead!"

*Cough Cough*

Fenris then thrust the person into a tree and forcing his claws onto his face to hold him up against the tree.

"Tell me where she is!"

*Gasp* "Danarius told me to tell you that you have seven days to return to him in Tevinter and accept your punishments or the girl dies."

Fenris's grip on the man's skull tightened.

"What!"

"AHHH! And for every day that you have not returned to him, the girl will take each punishment for you starting toda—"

The man's skull was crushed leaving only blood upon the elf's hand.

_Vashi'din! How could I be so carless! How could I just let him take her!_

"How the hell am I supposed to get into Tevinter without getting caught?!"

Fenris, infuriated started to head North West, towards the Tevinter Imperium, and as he walked he kicked the dead bodies of the assassins hired by his former master.

"Damn it…"

"See Jade, we could have gotten farther today if you're curiosity didn't slow us down."

Anders was laughing as he set up the tent for them that night. Jade was getting wood to keep the fire going and, in the clearing that they decided to stay in, seemed to be scarce in wood.

"I'm going to go look for more wood, I'll be right back ok."

"Very well, just watch out alright."

"I'm always careful Anders."

Jade ran further east into the forest in search of wood. She summoned a ball of light in order to see what she was doing.

_Watch out for what? There's nothing out here… you can barely see anything._

_-shing—_

"EEP!"

"Don't move."

Jade jumped, and dropped all her wood, and raised her hands in fear as she saw a long sword pointing into her neck. She slowly looked down at the sword to see if she could take a glimpse of the wielder. She then caught sight of his neck

_White Tattoos… _"Wait! Wait wait…"

"Why should I, mage?"

"Because…" Jade looked around the elf for his supposed companion, she wasn't with him. "Because someone told me that I'm supposed to help you find your friend."

Fenris glared at Jade with hatred, and thrust his sword closer to her neck.

_What would she know about Tifea._

"WAIT! I'm not lying!"

"Show me proof!"

"Um... your friend's name is Tifea! She's a girl and she's in danger!"

Fenris slowly lowered his sword… what if she wasn't lying.

"Who told you this?"

Jade lowered her arms and let out a breath.

"I can't tell you who it was, she didn't want me to."

"It was a woman?"

"Yes and that's all I can say."

Fenris put away his sword and looked at Jade with a blank stare.

"Lead the way… um."

Jade let out another breath and stretched out her hand.

"Jade."

Fenris closed his eyes then looked back at her, with more of a glare than stare.

"Okay then," Jade picked all the wood she dropped and headed for her campsite, "this way."

"Hey Anders I have a-"

"You!"

Anders turned from tending to the fire to glaring straight into the eyes of Fenris.

"Not you again!"

Anders ran up to Jade, standing in between her and Fanris.

"What are you doing out here!"

"The only reason why I'm out here, _mage! _Is because you had to go and blow up the Chantry!"

Jade walked over to tend to the fire while the two blew off some steam. She put the wood into the fire and blew at it until she knew for sure it would stay burning though out the night. She then walked back to the two screaming men ready to kill each other.

"You guys."

"Why don't you get lost."

"Guys"

"Why don't you go back to Tevinter! I'm sure they'll let you kill off some more innocent lives there!"

"You!-"

"SHUT UP!" Both Fenris and Anders paused. "The both of you," Jade looked to Anders, "now listen Anders someone told me that we have to help uhhh…"

"His name is Fenris and I refuse to help him." Anders then folded his arms and turned his back on the elf.

"I don't need your help!"

"Yes you do," she yelled to Fenris, she then looked back and pointed at Anders with one hand on her hip, "Anders I can tell that you know… Fenris… from before, well then you might know his companion, ahh… Tifea."

"Tifea!" Anders turns around shocked then glared at Fenris. "What did you do? Almost get her killed again?! Then left her side like last time? Coward!"

Fenris took Anders by the neck.

"You take that back!"

"Fenris back up," said Jade as she push the two apart, "and Anders quit it! You two obviously have some issues to work out." Jade glared at Fenris, "Fenris we're here to help you!" She then glared at Anders, "Anders, get over your issues with Fenris because we're helping him. She's your friend too isn't she? So don't you want to see her safe?"

The two glared at each other.

"Fine," stated the two.

"Good, now let's all get some sleep and we'll talk about this is in the morning." Jade went down the slope into the clearing. Anders was till glaring at Fenris, "Come Anders," called Jade.

"Coming." Anders then turned and walked down the slope into the clearing.

Fenris unfolded his arms then looked into the stars.

'_The girl will take each punishment for you starting today'_

"Damn it."

"Fenris," called Jade. Fenris then walked down the slope and sat with them at the clearing.

"Ahh… where am I?" Tifea is slowly coming to her senses as she tries to move her heavy body from lying down to an upright position.

_Why can't I move my wrists… or feet…Where am?!_

Tifea finally got herself to sit up and figured out her hands were chained together as well as her feet. She then saw that those chains were attached to the wall. She was in some kind of dungeon, there was blood on the floor, at least everywhere but where she was sitting.

_What is this place?_

There were chains hanging from the ceilings and walls, with skulls and bones spread in various places in the floor.

_Lock Picks!_

Tifea tried to reach her pockets but then realized that she wasn't wearing her normal cloths. She was wearing robes, the same kind of robes the elf girl she saw was wearing when she went to kill Hadriana.

_No…_

"Well you're finally awake, I was wondering if they'd used too much tranquilizer."

Tifea knew that voice anywhere. She slowly looked up to see the monster who tortured the mind of someone she cared for. The monster that almost killed two close friends of her hero, the monster that she _swore _that she killed, the horrifically powerful mage.

"I… I killed you."

"Yes you did… but you seem to underestimate the power of Tevinter Mages."

"You should be dead! You're not powerful your just afraid to die!"

"Silence," shouted Danarius as he slapped Tifea in the face with the back of his hand. "You brought this upon yourself you stupid girl! You stole something of mine and now you will-"

"Fenris doesn't belong to any one. And he is coming to help me because he's _defiantly not_ afraid of you!"

"HA! The elf trembles at the very sound of my name!"

"And what makes you believe that? Has your Blood Magic finally ruined your eye sight?!"

The mage was red in the face, Tifea's defiance wasn't something he was used to, or something he could take. Be he didn't have to listen to this; instead he had something else in mind for her.

"You know, I gave the elf a message once you were taken."

"So!"

"Hehe, oh you silly, insolent, girl, in the message I told him that he had seven days to return to me." As Danarius spoke three shades started to rise from the ground to surround Tifea, while the mage circled to leave the room. "And for each day that he doesn't return… starting today…" The closer the shades got, the more worried Tifea became, she started to back up towards the wall in fear. "You will be taking every punishment that I owe Fenris, for him."

_*Scream!*_

Cries of pain, is all that can be heard, in its dark depths, as Danarius calmly closes the door to his dungeon.

"Fenris, you slept outside last night?"

"I'm fine, is that mage up?"

"His name is Anders and you will address him as such."

"Very well, is _Anders_ up so that we can get started already?"

Jade, Fenris, and Anders only met the night before and they were already having problems with each other. Although, it can't really be said that Fenris and Anders just met. Either way the three were beginning to sit down for breakfast then contemplate over what they were going to do about Tifea's capture. Ander's has now come out of the tent, and started to prepare their breakfast.

"I'm not going to start a fight with you right now Fenris, we have more important matters to address."

"Hmmm…."

Jade looked at the brooding elf, only wondering why, or even how, he could be so irritated at people that were trying to help him. But questioning him about that wasn't going to help fix the predicament, she made a promise, to this Julia person, that she would help him, so whatever it took, Jade was going to keep that promise.

"Is there anything you want to eat Fenris?"

"I ate before the two of you woke up."

"Okay then umm… when did Tifea go missing?"

"Yesterday, a few hours before sundown," Fenris never even looked in her direction as he spoke, all he seemed to be doing since he got here was look up at the sky, whether there were clouds or stars. Jade found this to be completely rude, he could at least be somewhat grateful.

"You know, we're trying to help you! The least you can do is show some kind respect."

Fenris then shook his head then put his hand to his forehead. Being mad at them wasn't going to get him anywhere; they didn't cause Tifea to be taken away. Fenris thought through all these points and knew that he shouldn't be letting his anger out on them. He then put his hand down and faced Jade.

"Forgive me, I'm just… Frustrated. I am… Grateful for your help, I was just thinking of something."

"Thinking of what?" questioned Anders.

Fenris didn't answer; instead he glanced at the ground then back at Jade.

"A messenger, from the man that organized her capture, said that she would be in Tevinter. I know where to go, but I don't know how to get in without getting caught."

"Ok," said Jade, "do you know her captor, before we even think of setting foot into the Tevinter Imperium, we have to know what we're dealing with."

"He is, a very powerful mage, I'm not entirely sure what he's capable of." Fenris then closed his eyes then thought of some of Danarius's abilities. "He can summon shades, he uses Blood Magic, and he knows multiple spells, more than I can think of."

Anders stared at Fenris with curiosity.

"It sounds like we've met this mage before."

Fenris still didn't respond to Anders, and of course this created more tension between the two.

"What's the name of the mage Fenris," growled Anders as he glared at Fenris.

Fenris finally glared to Anders in annoyance.

"Danarius took her alright?!"

"I thought you and Tifea killed him?"

"I don't know how but he's alive but he's the one who took her."

Jade looked to Anders as if the idea of Danarius returning wasn't that astonishing.

"Couldn't he have been resurrected?"

"No…" stated Anders, "the body was left alone for too long, it shouldn't have been able to be resurrected."

Glaring at Anders with impatience, Fenris spoke.

"I don't care about what shouldn't have happened, the fact of the matters is that it did and I need to help her."

"Fine," stated Anders as he started to rub his chin to think of a plan, "I think I know of a way to get into the Imperium without you getting caught." He then looked to the elf in assurance, "Jade and I don't have to worry, we're mages, so it won't be a problem for us to walk in. But if you come in, everyone will be questioning us. So here's what we'll do."

As Anders explained his plans to get into the Imperium the day went on, whether it was for those who wanted it to or those who didn't.

_*Pant Pant*_

Tifea hasn't slept for hours, ever since she believed the torture, that Danarius forced upon her, ended, so as her eye lids became heavy she started to drift off into a blissful sleep. The place was dark, only lit by what she thought to be candles, even though she couldn't see them, the atmosphere, and her exhausted demeanor made her believe now was a time that she could rest, at least for a moment. Then the door of the entrance to the dungeon, creaked open. Tifea had no energy to even take a glimpse at who came through.

The footsteps became louder as the monster approached her. She felt a pull then suddenly a yank, as the monster pulled her up by her hair so that they could look to each other, face to face.

"So, do you still think that I'm weak, girl?"

Tifea could only grunt in pain, everything hurt and she had no energy left to speak, or even try to answer any of his mocking questions. But she knew this was for the best, Danarius had all the cards right now, he could kill her or just torture her more if he wanted, so defying him, or even being smart would not be a wise move at this time. She then heard the monster chuckle.

"Heh, well… Answer me!"

"No…"

"Good."

The mage released her head, and let her fall to the ground as he turned his back on her, and begins to ask her another question.

"Tifea…Do you know what day it is."

No response.

"Answer me!" Roared Danarius as he cast a lesser lightning bolt on Tifea.

"AHHHH! NO!" Tifea fell to her side in pain, again panting, just to relax her body after the shock. Danarius bent down to her and pulled her up by her hair, so that he could look her in the face as he stood, and as she was slightly lifted off the ground.

"Why… it's mid-day, my dear, of your second day here."

_Already?!_

Tifea was astonished; she couldn't even imagine it already being tomorrow, let alone mid-day.

"Can you tell me what this means for you Tifea?"

"It…" Tifea couldn't say the words, she didn't want to, and she knew whether she said it or not he was still going to go on with his plans. "It… I… I don't know."

"Oh really," the mage dropped Tifea, and watched as she fell limply to the ground. "Well I'll give you a hint," he whispered as three shades appeared around Tifea, "I'll give you the hint on the count of three."

Tifea's eyes were closed during her entire encounter with Danarius, and she knew she didn't want to watch what he was going to do next. All she could do was brace herself for his supposed 'hint' and hope that it might end sooner than the one before.

"One…"

_Please hurry Fenris…_

"Two…"

_Please… Please…_

"Three…"

"How long will it take us to reach Tevinter from here?"

"Well if we start now, we should be able to get there by the night of the second day, then we're going to stay at one of the Inns near their gates so we can be sure of our escape. Jade do you have the spell ready?"

"Yes, found it."

The three were heading north for Tevinter, following Anders plan in their attempt to rescue Tifea. His plan included a fairly new spell that Jade found, and a trick that was going to get Fenris into the Imperium, unnoticed.

"We'll cast the spell on you once we arrive at the Imperium, and once we enter no one will ever even think of you as anything different."

"How long is this spell supposed to last for?"

Jade patted Fenris on the back to reassure him.

"Don't worry, it wears off after, five to eight hours, and we can dispel it when we need to."

"You two had better be able to… What am I becoming again?"

"You'll see…" grinned Anders.

_Part II_

"Halt! What items do you bring into The Imperium of Tevinter?"

"Just my equipment."

The guard then turned his gaze to Jade.

"And you Sorcerer?"

"Just my equipment-"

"Then what is that you're carrying in your basket?!"

"Oh him," Jade reached into her basket and pulled out a white cat with black stripes all over it. "It's my cat, um, Stripes, he's adorable right?" Jade then cuddled the cat, as it meowed in what almost made it sound like it was annoyed.

The man was caught off guard by the feline, believing that the woman was carrying some kind of bomb or something that could bring ruin to the Imperium.

"Very well… you may pass."

"Oh," said Jade and she and Anders passed through the gates, "do you know where the closest Inn is?"

"Oh…" said the guard, again caught off guard, "it's on your right, after the ally way ends."

"Thank you."

Once Jade and Anders finally arrived at the Inn, they paid for their room and set up as quickly as possible. And once they arrived in the room Jade cast dispel magic, to remove the spell from Fenris. She set him on the floor, then immediately after a flash of light, there was no longer a cat.

"Why did you make me into a cat?"

Jade smiled at the question.

"Because I like cats, and a dog would be way too big to fit into anything."

Fenris then stared at her, thinking to ask another question but deciding not to. He remembered his goal, why he was even back in this forsaken place, it was to help Tifea. Fenris's mind was becoming filled with concern for her, it had already been four days, he had only three days left to help her.

"The sun has set Fenris," stated Anders, "There will be more guards than we can handle out tonight, we'll search the walls in the morning."

"Alright," said Fenris as he sat in the corner of the room. And as the Jade and Anders fell asleep, Fenris folded his arms and tried to do the same, but couldn't.

_Tifea,…I'm here now, just hang on a little longer… I'm going to leave this place, and you're coming with me… just give me some more time._

"So which way Stripes?"

'_Stop calling me that… Any ways we need to turn on the next left and go down that ally way to reach the inner Circle where the Magisters live.'_

"You know," grinned Anders as he looked the black stripped cat, "I think I like Stripes better this way, at least he can't hurt me.

The cat growled at him, but then Jade started to pet him, not truly stopping him from getting mad, but it made him quiet for a bit.

"Shush you guys, you know we need to do this quietly, we don't want run into anything out of the way, right."

'_Right.'_

"Right."

Fenris soon felt that they were moving to slow so he tried to get out of Jade's arms.

'_Let me down! I'll show you two the way on my own, it'll be faster.'_

"Alright Stripes, just relax a bit." She then set Fenris down, and whispered to him, "Move slowly so it doesn't look like we're chasing you, it might be too, conspicuous."

'_Ok, fine let's move.'_

So both Jade and Anders followed their cat to Danarius's home, but the two came across something neither of them anticipated on. The cat slowed to a stop, he then backed up and ran behind Jade and Anders. Jade then looks down and whispers to Fenris.

"Stripes, what's wrong?"

"Ahh new comers, I haven't seen either of you in Tevinter before, welcome."

The mage had several guards following him each wearing intimidating helms to cover their faces. The mage, himself, appeared to be old with gray hairs and all, but his age also revealed his power. It seemed as if he had been studying the text of magic since he was an infant, which in Tevinter, didn't seem to be such a wild idea.

The man had his hand outstretched for his greeting, and both mages shook it in respect.

"The both of you look like you could bring great promise to the magic world. Tell me, what are your names?"

"You can call me Jade sir," said Jade as she curtsied before the all-powerful mage.

"And I Anders," spoke Anders as he also bowed before the mage.

"Pleasure meeting you both, I am Magister Danarius."

Upon hearing this, something snapped in both Jade and Anders's heads, this was the man holding their friend captive.

"Please, I'd love to see a demonstration of your abilities."

"Ahhh…"

"There's nowhere to demonstrate here, Magister, the area is pretty crowded." Stated Anders.

"Nonsense, we have space, right out here."

Anders and Jade followed Danarius, with Fenris close behind. They arrived at the Inner Circle of the Imperium, which was still considerably crowded.

"Um, Magister Danarius, it's still sort of-" But before she could finish, Danarius had already cast a Fire ball into the middle of the street. All the mages saw it coming, but not many of their slaves did, some caught on fire, while others were able to escape the blast. In the end there was a scorched clearing in the center of the street in which all the mages looked to, then they looked to the Magister and his guests.

"There's your space. Now, Jade was it? Show me your best attack."

"Very well." Jade then summoned up as much energy as she could and threw out a ball of ice into the center of the scorched earth. With only a few seconds of concentration, it exploded into the air into thousands of shards which rained down and filled the entire scorched earth with ice.

"Impressive, and what about you, Anders?"

"I specialize more in healing than fighting, Magister."

"Ahh a healer, the Imperium could use some more of those." The mage then turned around and scorched the head of one of his own men and threw him to the ground. The whole man's body soon caught on fire, since all that the mages did was only 'ohhed' and 'awed' at the power of the new comers, and the screams of the burning man. Jade and Anders could only look in disgust at what was happening to the man, but before Jade could cast an ice spell to stop the flames, the man was dead.

"Resurrect him; let's see if you can do that."

Anders then took out his staff and summoned as much of his energy as possible to bring back the poor man to life. Blue light surrounded the man's body, soon lifting it off the ground. The light cured his singed skin and brought light back into his eyes. The man lived again.

After such a horrific event, all that was heard was the clapping of the mages, as they awed at the new comers' demonstrations.

"Very impressive, you two. May I ask where you've been staying for your time here?"

"An inn close to the entrance of Minrathous," replied Anders, since Jade was still dumbfounded by the entire scene.

The Magister shook his head is disappointment.

"No, that just won't do for such impressive mages; come, we'll be staying at the Sorcerer's Sinew."

So the three followed the mage to their new inn, and as they walked Fenris glanced back at the scorched earth.

'_Glad I didn't get caught in that again.'_

"This," yelled Danarius as he raised his hands to present the exquisite room, "Is where you two, and your little friend will be staying."

"We can't afford this," laughed Jade, "It must be at least, one hundred gold a night."

"That is why I will be paying for your stay."

"But why?" asked Anders, "You have been very kind to us all day, but we just met, why all the generosity?"

Fenris and Jade looked to Anders as if he was crazy.

"Anders, sweetie… don't look a gift horse in the mouth, we should be thanking Magister Danarius for-"

"No Jade, he is right to question my kindness." Stated Danarius as he raised a hand to silence her. "You see, I've come across a bit of luck lately, both good and bad, as a matter of fact. And because of such I realized that…" stated the Magister as he approached the two and their cat. "I need more allies at my side, if one of my plans turns out to be a failure."

"What plan?" questioned Jade.

"It was to… never you mind that right now, that matter is that you two seem that you could be very strong allies. Maybe even stronger than me… Besides if you're going to live in Tevinter, you need connections, and with me being a Magister, I could help you two with a lot of things."

"Well thanks, I guess…" said Anders.

"In fact… why don't you two join me for dinner tomorrow, and I will give you a tour of my mansion, you can even bring your cat… Stripes?"

"Yes, Stripes," said Jade as she looked to find Fenris.

"Where is he?"

"He's probably hiding, he's very shy. We accept your invitation and we'll see you at dinner tomorrow."

"Many thanks, Anders," stated Danarius as he put all his fingers together, forming some kind of triangle. "I will send some of my guards to escort you to my home tomorrow night."

Danarius then turned to leave and once he was gone, Jade and Anders franticly went through all the pillows on the ground looking for Fenris. The room was exotic; there were drapes to cover each of the beds, and pillows all over the carpet for comfort. The royal colors covered the entire room, gold, purple, red, and blue. With a mirror and dresser, on each side of the room for each guest it was like a mini mansion.

"Fenris where are you?!"

"Quit hiding Fenris!"

'_I'm right here, gerr! Why is all this damned stuff on the floor? I can't move…'_

Jade followed the sound of his thoughts and found the elf. She then set him in the middle of the room then changed him back.

"Aug! Why did you two agree to have dinner with him! We're supposed to be looking for someone!"

"Because it was the quickest way into his house, Fenris!" exclaimed Anders," Think about it, if we just walked in, we were bound to get caught, now while we eat with Danarius you can search the house for the room that he's holding Tifea captive."

"Yeah," agreed Jade as she started to get ready for bed, "and even if you don't get time then, he'll be showing us his mansion, so while we're walking around you can see if there's some place that he's holding Tifea. Then later that night we can search the mansion and get her out, leave the town, and go on with our lives."

Once Fenris realized their plans he let go of all his rage and said, "Thank you."

"Any time Fenris, just don't get caught walking around the mansion," grinned Anders.

"Well let's get some sleep guys. We need to make sure that neither of us trip up tomorrow."

Once the lights were out, Anders and Jade went to their beds to sleep while Fenris sat in the corner of the room that allowed him to look out the window.

_It's been five days already… and tomorrow will be six…_

Jade opened one of her eyes, just to see if the elf had fallen asleep yet… he hadn't.

_What's bothering him, we're going to get her tomorrow or the next day, and we aren't leaving without her… Is he that worried about her?_

"Hey Fenris…"The elf steered his eyes to look in her direction. "Don't worry alright, we going to get Tifea, and she's going to be ok," whispered Jade.

Fenris then gazed back into the night sky, "If only I could believe that."

_* Splash*_

Danarius walked through the fresh pools of blood as he went to speak to his screaming captive.

"Halt, for now, I need to speak with her. When I have finished you all may continue your game."

The shades then stopped their assault on the screaming woman's body as the Magister lifts her face off the ground, in order to speak to her.

"Guess what, Tifea," smiled the Magister, "I don't think I want to kill you."

There was only a pant in return for responses, Tifea's body had become extremely weak due to the strain, and every slight movement she did, even breathing, caused her pain.

The Magister then turned her head to whisper into her ear.

"I've found a more useful way to use your worthless body."

Suddenly, Tifea burst out crying, and she couldn't stop herself. With every tear came a strike of pain in her body, she was finally truly scared.

Danarius then dropped her body and allowed the three shades to continue their game.

"Welcome to my abode."

Fernis could only scoff at the monstrosity he knew to be Danarius's home, sadly as a cat it only came out as a cough. In his home there seemed to be at least thirty slaves, with many of them being elven. The home looked beautifully decorated, but Fenris knew what it truly was, nothing but a humungous ruse to hide the true nature of the Tevinter Mages.

"We will be dinning in here tonight."

As Jade and Anders were led to their seats, and presented their dinners by some of the mage's slaves, Fernis subtly left in search of Danarius's dungeon.

Tifea was being carried by someone but her body was limp, her right arm was tilted towards the ground. The blue ring on her finger falls.

Fenris is seen in a dungeon dead, with four mages surrounding his body.

Tifea's body is set down on the ground, the person setting her down is unhappy, and the woman across from him is crying, she had also perished.

"Huh?!"

Tifea tries to sit up but she realizes her body is too tired to do so. She then sees that she is still in the dungeon, she's still chained to the wall, and that every fragment of her body is still in pain.

"AH! Why couldn't I get a dream about how to get out of here!"

Tifea curls up into a ball and starts to cry once more.

"How do I get out of here…"

'_No… No… AUG NO!'_

Fenris, in his cat form, was rushing all over Danarius's home in order to find where Tifea was being held. He started with all the places Danarius took him, each time he tried to escape. Then he tried looking through each of the slave holding places. Finally he looked to every single door he came across; finding the kitchen, some kind of game room, and Danarius's quarters, but neither of the doors he looked into had any remote sign that might have lead him to believe that Tifea was being held there.

After searching for so long he went back to Jade and Anders just to see how far they'd gotten with Danarius. They both were already on his good side, supposedly, and the mage was already showing them around his home. Fenris followed in hopes that he would lead them to an area that he had yet to look into, no success. He left on multiple occasions in order to double check doors, and maybe look into others that he might not have seen before.

"He is very… active," stated Danarius as he glared, irritably at the cat.

"Well yes," responded Jade, "you know we're always traveling so…"

"Being in such a big house, it like he's on his own adventure," finished Anders.

"I see…"

Hours passed, eventually the three left back to their room in the Sorcerer's Sinew. Jade cast the spell to return Fenris back to his normal self. And once Fenris was normal he sat down on the bed, head down, and elbows on his knees.

"Well?"

"I couldn't find her…"

Anders and Jade looked down in disappointment. Then Jade looked up at Fenris with rage in her eyes.

"We have one more chance."

"What do you mean?" Fenris looked up hoping that she truly had an idea.

"Jade is right, Danarius invited us back to his house for tomorrow. Maybe then we can look again."

"Fine…"

_Part III_

"This way."

This was Anders, Jade and Fenris's last attempt to find Tifea, only known by Fenris. This would be the seventh day that Tifea was stuck in Danarius's imprisonment, and if they didn't get her back by tonight…

"I'm sure the both of you will find this to be… truly helpful."

The Magister stopped when they reached a wall in the inner parts of his castle. The three could only be confused.

"Um… a wall?"

Danarius smiled.

"Ever since the most unfortunate event of my most prized… Investment… becoming misplaced, I've kept some of my more particular holdings," As Danarius spoke he touch the wall in a certain pattern, which in turn, revealed a door. "A secret, so that there wouldn't be any more assisted attempts of escape. Come, my surprise is down here."

Anders went first with Jade, holding Fenris, hesitant to follow. The further down the steps they went the more potent the smell of blood and decay was to the three. Once they finally reached the bottom Fenris tried to get out of Jade's arms. She let him fall, thinking that he knew what he was doing. Fenris only took a step deeper into the dungeon, and noticed Tifea's backpack. He then took a few more and saw her.

Tifea was lying on her side on the cold concrete floor. She was surrounded by pools of blood that the three could only presume were hers. Her hair was all over her face, her cloths were also stained with blood, and she looked like something had been scratching at her, all over her body.

Only Fenris could tell that her breathing was shallow and much slower than it should be. He could also see that she had tear marks on her face…He had to get her out of here soon.

"So… what's the surprise?" Asked Jade since, Anders, this time, was still speechless from seeing Tifea in such a horrible condition.

"I'm going to teach the both of you how to perform the Blood Ritual."

Immediately when Fenris heard this he glared at Danarius and growled a bit.

"The Blood Ritual is what gives Tevinter mages their power; with this the both of you could be nearly unstoppable." He then looked to Anders and Jade with a grin, "Just think, one to three mage's powers are triple for five years, at the cost of the life of just one of their slaves." He then looked back at Tifea with his sinister smile, "Or in this case, the life of a captive."

Fenris growled louder…

"What's wrong with your cat?"

Anders looked down then spoke.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to play this."

"What?!"

"Dispel magic!" yells Jade, and Fenris is transformed back to his original self.

While Anders freezes Danarius and Jade finds Tifea's equipment and stuffs it in her backpack then goes to fight the Magister. While Fenris rushes to Tifea and breaks each of her chains. But before he could finish he turned to see that Anders and Jade need help in their battle. He then charges at Danarius in an attempt to assist them.

"Idiots!"

Danarius cast a spell knocking everyone back, making Anders and Jade hit the side walls, and Fenris falls to the floor. Danarius then summoned enough energy to cast another spell, which called upon vines from the ground, to bind Jade and Anders to the walls.

Fenris quickly got to his feet, ready to slash Danarius into pieces. But the mage then reached into a pouch on his side and pulled out a handful of dust and threw it at Fenris. The elf stopped in his tracks and looked to Danarius with an empty stare, only to wait for orders.

"Fenris! Fenris snap out of it! We're this close!" cried Jade.

"Think about Tifea! If we don't get her out of here soon, she will die!" yelled Anders.

But nothing they could say could phase the elf's blank stare at his master. But the yelling did irritate Danarius.

"Silence the both of you!" Vines from either sides of the room wrapped around Jade and Anders mouths. Once the other two mages were silent Danarius looked back to his 'investment'. "So you were coming to get her back… I was starting to think that you weren't going to make this entertaining. But according to the message I sent you… You had seven days to save her…"

Anders and Jade were surprised by this; Fenris told them nothing about a deadline in their process of helping Tifea. Then it finally hit Jade.

_That's why he was always rushing us… why he seemed so worried every night._

"And if my old memory serves me well, I believe it said that if you didn't rescue her by the seventh day, I said she would die, correct?"

"Yes… Master Danarius."

The mage than laughed and ginned at his slave, "then you will give me the entertainment that this worthless girl could not." Danarius smiled then pointed at the girl, "she was the one that lied to you all these years, she's wronged you, so I believe you should take your revenge. Kill her… and your need for revenge will be fulfilled."

The elf turned to the limp body on the floor and withdrew his weapon. The two captive mages tried to move, cast a spell, yell, something that might distract Fenris, and maybe change him back. The elf lifted his weapon to strike.

"Fenris… you came… thank you."

Fenris, even hypnotized, heard her faint voice and paused.

"What are you doing?! I said kill her!"

"Fenris, please…Don't be afraid of him," just hearing that statement, coming from Tifea, made the elf flinch, "you have help… don't do this, please…"

"Kill her now!"

"My sister said that… concentration… is the key to any mage's magic."

The mage marched until he was directly behind the elf, then shouted in fury.

"Kill her or else I'll-"

Fenris immediately turned slashing Danarius across the chest making the mage fall to the floor and lose his focus.

Anders and Jade were released and the two tried their best to make sure Danarius stayed on the floor. While Fenris turned to break the rest of the shackles binding Tifea to this dungeon. However, before he could carry her out he saw that the two mages weren't fending to well against the Magister. The elf than ran up the Danarius swinging his sword all around the monster.

"Get Tifea out of here quickly!"

While Danarius was distracted, Anders picked up Tifea, as Jade made a clear passage out of Danarius's mansion. But upon exiting the building, guards surrounded them, they weren't going to be able to walk out of Tevinter without a fight. Fenris, in the dungeon, was still fighting Danarius, but he wasn't fending to well against his former master.

Tifea then realized that she'd been in this position before, that she was being carried and…

_What stuck out?… What could make the difference?_

She then looked down at her ring, as Jade and Anders backed up getting ready to fight. The blue ring glowed in the moonlight on her finger. She called upon all the energy left in her to bring the ring to her mouth…

_Please help…What would help…_

"Stop time please… Stop!" She whispered to the ring, but no reaction. "Stop time… Slow it down… "The guards were closing in on the three. "Time stop."

_Tick tock Tick tock Tick tock…._

"They… They stopped moving." Jade walked up to one the guards ready to hit her and tapped it. "What happened?"

"Tell Fenris that we need to go… the ring can't hold this spell for long." whispered Tifea to Anders, which he repeated to Jade.

Jade ran back into the castle to find Fenris ready to kill Danarius, this time planning to chop him into many little pieces.

"Wait! If you do that now we'll be in more trouble than ever!"

"You expect me to just let him go?! After what he's done?! NO!"

"He'll just come back Fenris; we need to find something to prevent that before we try to kill him. Please we need to leave now Tifea said the spell won't last for long."

Fenris glared into the eyes of his former master… but he knew she was right. Killing him now wouldn't do anything so he ran up to Jade and the two left to find Anders.

Once they all regrouped they started their run out of Tevinter. And as the three made their escape, they came across many mage statues, caused by the curious spell that Tifea cast. Only after five minutes of running Fenris took Tifea off of Ander's shoulders, thinking that the mage couldn't move fast enough carrying another person.

After so long Anders knew it was time to stop, he knew they were a good distance away, understanding the mechanics of Jade's new Teleportation spell, he figured that they were close to the coast and maybe even Ostwick. Tifea's wounds needed tending to and that meant finding a clearing to rest at.

"We should stop here."

"Why?! Are you sure we're far enough?"

"Fenris relax I think we're far enough…" Jade stood getting ready to prepare the site, "I'm not even sure they saw which way we left I mean they were all frozen."

"She's lost to much blood. We need to help her now."

Anders was right and Fenris knew it.

So Jade and Fenris set up camp as Anders tended to Tifea's injuries. Although Fenris knew that Anders was going to take care of Tifea… all that was on his mind was her breathing. It was shallow and faint, as if it could stop at any time.

"The both of you need to go to Ostwick tomorrow and get more bandages." Stated Anders as he walked out of Tifea's tent, "I'll stay with Tifea incase anything happens. These bandages should be able to last her through the night, but I only have a few left and she'll probably need more soon."

"Very well,"Fenris then looked to Jade, "We'll leave early in the morning tomorrow."

"Of course," agreed Jade as she nodded to the elf, "We should head to bed soon then, we need all the energy we can get after what happened tonight… " Then remembering what Fenris said about waking up early, "and Fenris and I will need the energy in order to get to Ostwick and back for the bandages."

The three ate, turned out the fire, then went to bed for the night so that they would be prepared for the morning.

Fenris sat up in the tent that night to allow Tifea all the room she needed for her to rest easily. But after a little past midnight, Fenris started to hear an unfamiliar sound. It was close, so he opened his eyes to see if anyone was outside the tent or had entered it. But once he looked down he realized where the noise was coming from.

Tifea was sniffling, he could tell that she was half awake; she had probably been awake since Anders placed her inside the tent. Ever since Tifea told him the origins of her tattoos, Fenris never wore his gloves at night. Since he knew that he wasn't capable of scratching her, the elf then slowly and carefully lifted her body to embrace her, this was his fault the least he could do was comfort her.

"I'm sorry…"

Tifea slowly started to cry as she clung to Fenris.

"I was so scared," she whispered, "I didn't know where I was… Everything those shades did to me… It was so painful Fenris… I couldn't sleep… I was…" She then paused, not wanting to tell Fenris how she felt in that horrible place, fearing that it might bring back nightmares if she fell asleep tonight. " Fenris tell me something, anything… I just don't want to fall asleep yet…"

Fenris looked down at her, and felt responsible for what Danarius did to her. He tried to think of something to tell her, but all that came to mind was that question she asked him days ago and part of him still didn't want to answer that. Finally he came to a decision with himself.

"Tifea…," he whispered as he held her tighter, "remember what you asked me… before all this happened. It was about Julia and that if she could be anything to me, what would she be."

"Yes…"

"Well, I do see her as something… I remember that at one point when I was working for Danarius, that once the day was done, I would rest in my cell on my own. And when I did I remembered watching these women that had children with them all the time. At first I saw it as a weakness… Why watch over something that can't even attempt to defend itself… But then I realized what they did and what they were. And once I did… and remember that I had no memory of ever being treated that way, I noticed that I started to feel jealousy towards the younger ones.

"But it wasn't an emotion I needed getting in the way of what I need to do every day, so I… buried it. Then I met my sister, and realized that I fought and lost all of my memories for these tattoos so that I could give my mother and sister they're freedom. And yet when I figure out that my sister hated her freedom and my mother died, detest with what I did to myself without 'good cause'. I was …hurt you could say.

"Then when we met Julia, and as I learned more about her, I started to see her almost as a… mother figure." Fenris started to appear depressed as he looked away from Tifea. "She was intelligent, strong, brave, and knowledgeable about the Elven race…And when she spoke…or maybe it was her aura… I don't know which it was but for the short times that I was around her I felt… safe. That… Danarius wasn't holding all the cards… and that—But no! I'm supposed to be at your side to protect you. Not to keep hold to a fear that should have been lost long ago. I shouldn't be thinking of any of this! I—"

"I don't want you to be fearless Fenris," whispered Tifea as she smiled, happy that Fenris finally told her the truth, "that's impossible… everyone's afraid of something."

"But, my fears," stated Fenris as he looked back at Tifea, "they shouldn't be getting in the way of protecting you."

Tifea slightly opened her eyes, "they don't. You got two mages to help you rescue me… and you went against Danarius's Hypnotic Dust, and even faced him for me." She then closed her eyes and snuggled in closer to Fenris, "you can be afraid of things, but I also know that you're always going to be able to gain the courage needed to face those things."

The elf then smiled at the kind statement.

"And," whispered Tifea as she drifted into her sleep, "the two mages are going to be staying with us from now on… they helped us… and we could use their aid… _*Yawn*_…in the future." And she was out.

He was at first frustrated by her idea, but then chuckled at it, she was right. And even though she was asleep he stroked her hair, closed his eyes to drift into his sleep, and said, "Agreed."

1 Aidor- idiot


End file.
